Day: October 28, 2009

Did you know that Warner Bros. is developing a live-action/animated movie version of beloved Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Yogi the Bear? That's the word on the street, as well as on the Internets (IMDB profile for "Yogi Bear" (2010)). So comedian/actor T.J. Miller ventured over to Hollywood Animal Ranch for a screen test with Bam Bam, the grizzly bear. When I first clicked, I expected CGI. Nope. This is real. Watch as Miller improvises with Bam Bam. Will they survive? SPOILER ALERT! Hey, Boo Boo! Do you need a refresher on who/what Yogi the Bear was? Here is a 1968 episode of Yogi's Big Break: And to complete the circle (or triangle!), here is a clip of Will Ferrell wrestling "Dewie the Bear" from the 2008 movie, Semi-Pro. Of course, that bear actually later went on to kill an animal trainer last year. The things we do for comedy sometimes,...

Advancing from last night's first semifinal of the 2009 New York's Funniest Stand-Up contest, please congratulate (in alphabetical order): Myq Kaplan, Gerald Kelly, Joe List, Matt McCarthy and Rory Scovel. They move on to the contest finals on Nov. 3 at Carolines, part of the New York Comedy Festival. Eliminated in the semis: Josh Accardo, Vince August, Gina Brillon, Joey Gay, Jason Good, Eric Reynolds, Erik Rivera, Yamaneika Saunders, Dan Soder, Josh Spier and Reese Waters. The other half of this year's semifinalists will compete tonight at Gotham Comedy Club for the five remaining slots in the...

In case you missed Artie Lange's tour-de-farce last night on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, well, you're in luck, because the show has much of it available online. And it was something, all right. Lange was the first guest and stuck around for the entirety, involving Olivia Munn in a running dialogue that kept Fallon in top giggle form, through a doubles ping-pong match with Fallon, Munn and Susan Sarandon (in a surprise cameo!), and eventually pretty much bumping David Chang, who only happens to be NYC's current chef sensation. At least Lange clarified at the last minute that he was goofing when he said Chang had given him ecstasy pills backstage, although when Sarandon asked aloud to Lange, "Are you high?" Fallon could only reply: "He's a bad guy to ask." Let's rewind, and take a quick step backward to put this into context. The last time I saw Lange in person, he seemed in fine spirits, mingling with comedians at Carolines for a book release party for Lisa Lampanelli. The next day, Lange reported to court in New Jersey to deliver a plea for a driving arrest this past summer. And then he virtually disappeared. When he re-emerged at his day job as Howard Stern's comedy sidekick on Sirius XM satellite radio on Oct. 20, Lange acknowledged in detail that he had suffered from a "mini...